Episode
SynopsisVoyager
and their new allies attempt to retrieve an ancient ship from the
clutches of their shared enemy.

Brief
NoteSome
of this episode was written in March, but I wasn't particularly
happy with how the reboot was going. I ended up restarting it and
changing where it starts. I don't think any of the March material
made it since all of the scenes were based before the new version's opening.

RebootedApril
- 3rd May 2019

Original
Written17th
& 21st September 2001

Episode
Based InJanuary
2374 & June 2377

Harry
wandered out of the lift, bleary eyed and holding a mug, immediately
turning left to go to his usual station. Instead he walked into the
arm of a leather chair occupied by a man in a strange red and black
environmental suit, typing on a keyboard looking console hovering
over his lap.

It
took an uncomfortable few seconds for him to put two and two
together. "This isn't..."

"Voyager?
No it isn't," Dave's amused voice said through the helmet speaker.

Harry
swiftly turned around. The sight of the very different bridge
slapped him awake long enough for him to find his actual station at
the back. He sat down at his strange elongated desk with numerous
different touch screen panels and old fashioned looking Delta Flyer
like controls dotted all around. His attention was quickly drawn to
their front window which had bathed the bridge in an eerie red light.
The window itself created the illusion of them flying through red
clouds. "So er, how long now?"

A
second environmental suit user, who was sat in the dead centre and
much fancier chair, tried to look over her shoulder, only to see more
of the back of her helmet. After a little grunt she complained,
"hold your porses there. You're not..."

"My
what?" Harry tried not to laugh.

At
the far front of the narrow bridge, James shook his head, silently
judging someone.

Lilly
meanwhile ground her teeth. "Verbal typo, let it go."

An
obnoxious giggle from the back did nothing to help. "Oh, I
thought it was the surname of your great granddad or something,"
Tani teased.

Dave
sheepishly looked over at his sister, not that anyone could tell. "Actually..."

Lilly
loudly shushed him, "let's not!" After an awkward wriggle
in her seat she muttered, "get into that right now."

"Shame,
I was dying to hear about good old cousin Larry Louse," Tani
laughed to herself.

Dave
groaned as he pushed his console to one side, out of the way. "I
just remembered that it takes me twenty minutes to use the bathroom
in this thing, so I'd better get going now." He tried to hurry
to the lift, making a lot of noise along the way.

Lilly
cringed to herself, until she spotted James looking back at her.
"What? I was smart enough to go before we put these on. I'm not
following him, not my problem."

"Yeah
but someone should. If he spends too long in there..." James said.

"You
drama mass-killing clown," Harry scoffed too loudly for his own
good. He got a frown directed at him as expected, but fortunately an
amused one. "It's not really going to take him that long. He'll
only be going for a...." his eyes widened a lot. James nodded
knowingly. Lilly though was too preoccupied with the horrible mental
image of her brother parked on a toilet, still with his helmet on,
reading a tablet.

"Okay,
so you'll check on him if he doesn't come back, if it's not that big
a deal," James said.

Harry
had turned pale in the meantime. "No, no. He won't get
radiation burns in one minute."

"If
you say so," James chuckled and turned back.

Harry
tugged on his recently cold sweat drenched collar. "Suddenly I
don't feel so hot. Are you sure it's safe for us to be in here
without one of those?" He pointed towards Lilly and her suit.

"Tch,
you're fine as long as you're an ex Borg," Lilly replied with
little care. "Stop being a big baby."

"Yeah
but..." Harry pretty much squeaked in response, "barely."

Meanwhile
on Voyager's bridge, their own viewscreen showed a similar red cloud
a fair distance away from them. Kathryn drummed her fingers
impatiently, while Chakotay watched her with a smirk.

Tom
fake laughed in her direction, "oh yeah? Are you forgetting
that this retrieval team has someone who thought losing her hair was
the absolute worst part about being turned into a Borg drone."

"No,"
Danny replied smugly. "They'll be okay in there, so there's
nothing to set her off. Harry on the other hand is a paranoid little
mummy's boy."

The
only warning the bridge got was a barely second long growl from the
command chairs. "It's just our luck isn't it. Oh it's a big
universe, isn't it? Is it?" Kathryn rambled, gesturing wildly.
"One little ship, one giant never ending quadrant, and we happen
to run into the second Borg-proof gigantic nebula within a few years.
I swear, if we're going around in circles, I'm going to..."

"Captain,"
Chakotay tried to calm her down, "Kathryn. Think about it this
way. At least we don't have to rely on only Annika to help crew the
Liger's ship."

"You're
right," Kathryn sighed and smiled. "Somebody tell her and
record the results. There's sod all to do while we wait for the
Umbrella Z5 to pick up its grandma."

Tom
tried his best not to laugh, it was useless though. "I dunno,
that's better than its real name."

Kathryn
looked a little lost for a few seconds, she turned to Chakotay.
"What is that blasted fleet called again? The last time I called
the three ships that rendezvoused with us Liger, Bion and Tear, oh my,
the stupid kids didn't get it."

"Dellia,"
Chakotay said, fully expecting what was coming next.

"Dell..."
Kathryn said seriously. She rolled her eyes and stomped off to her
Ready Room. "I hope whoever let their five year old niece name
the military fleet after her cute doll got fired out of the torpedo
tubes for that..." unfortunately she was cut off by the door
closing behind her.

Tom
snorted into the laughter he was holding back. "Okay Chakotay,
good one. Now, what did they really call their ships?"

Chakotay
kept a straight face, and he wasn't sure how he managed. "That
is their real name. Dellia Fleet." Tom was stunned into silence.
"Dave said that there was a petition to change the previous name
because it was too cutesy."

"What?"
Tom and Danny both laughed until they couldn't breathe. Chakotay
smiled and shrugged it all off.

The
Z5:The
Doctor clicked his tongue over and over, saying nothing. His patient
lying before him inside a glass chamber was getting more anxious with
every tut.

"I'm
sorry," the Doctor finally said after ten minutes, "but
there's nothing I can do."

"But..."
Harry protested until the chamber opened, making him panic further.
He tried to grab the parting glass and pull it back around him.
"No, no. I'm not like Morgan or James or Jessie. I wasn't a
Borg, just a few nanoprobes here and there."

"Lieutenant,"
the Doctor tried to intervene.

"If
it's not radiation poisoning, then what is the spot on my face?"
Harry stammered.

The
Doctor chuckled, leaning forward to pick a red gooey lump from his
cheek with no effort at all. He showed him it afterwards, "its
chilli, that's why it burns."

Harry
furiously blushed. "Well, I... they said to report anything
weird during this trip!" he snapped defensively before running
out the door, barely brushing by Morgan on her way in.

"Ah
Morgan. I trust the nebula isn't causing you any ill effects?"
the Doctor said with a smile.

"No,"
Morgan replied slowly, raising an eyebrow. "I was looking for
Tani, and these dumb Liger computers don't know who is who."

The
Doctor chuckled. "What happened to your cheat sheet?"
He got an eye roll as a response. "It's very much like our
system, but their communications and identification devices are more
primitive." He gestured to a small folded device on the nearby console.

"Yeah,
yeah. Have you seen her? She's meant to be annoying Jessie and I in
Engineering," Morgan said in a dreary tone.

"So
you're looking for her, because?" the Doctor questioned.

Morgan's
eyes drifted to one annoyed side. "It's my dinner time she's
skiving through. We're not supposed to leave anyone non Liger alone
in case they get stuck with their dumbed down keyboards and
knobs." The Doctor's smirk rattled her even further. "Shut
up, I know!"

"Might
I suggest I find her and you return to Engineering," the Doctor
said a little too eagerly.

"No,"
Morgan groaned, confused at his tone. "I have a feeling I know
where she went."

Lilly
wriggled in her seat, determined to fit comfortably into it.
Everytime she tried to lean back she got stuck halfway. Instead she
decided to get up and wander around the Z5 bridge. Her first
destination was the helm.

"Getting
the hang of it?" she asked while inspecting the console.

James
glanced briefly over his shoulder toward her. "Kinda, it's a
bit like the Flyer's controls." Typically as soon as she walked
away, satisfied, he noticed a green light flickering on his right.
Instead of calling her back right away, he checked what Harry
nicknamed the Dummy's Guide to Running Liger Ships he had
lying nearby. Nothing there mentioned a green light at all, he
started worry.

Harry
noticed during Lilly's approach and allowed a quiet snigger to
himself, which she heard and stared in judgement at him for.
"It's nothing, I lost a bet to Tom." Her brow furrowed
further. "For the love of god, don't tell him. I don't want to
be his next victim."

Lilly
groaned, "so is this why Janeway told me to pretend you're the
team leader? Gotcha. Turn it off." Harry looked on in quiet for
the moment dismay. He did as he was told, mumbling incoherently.

Meanwhile
Tani casually walked over to the helm. "Hey um," she said
a little nervously. James visibly tensed, she figured it was due to
the PADD he was studying. "Oh yeah, this Liger tech's pretty
basic... for me cos of living on a Borg ship and all. Maybe I can help."

"I'm
fine," James said in more ways than one, since the green light
had gone off. He checked the course map underneath it, hoping they
were even the slightest bit off course so he could do something. It
wasn't so he looked back at the PADD to pretend to read it.

Tani
tried to take it from him with no success, making her pout.
"Honestly, it's easier to learn from doing or watching. I'll
show you." She leaned over the console, intentionally getting
into his personal space.

James
shifted his chair to the right. He found out in that instant that it
was bolted down to the floor before he did. The ripping metal noise
caught Lilly and Harry's attention.

"No,
it's fine. I got it," James said, annoyed and a little embarrassed.

Tani
giggled, not getting the hint whatsoever. She moved in closer.
"Yeah you do," she purred, grabbing his chin in a vice like
grip. Before he could move again, she leaned in to press her lips
against his.

Lilly
and Harry froze, both unsure what to do. "Um, are they?"
she asked. Harry laughed nervously and mouthed no.

That
was the moment Morgan arrived on the bridge. Her fists clenched at
the sight of her former best friend pushing her current one into his
chair, she assumed to stop him from escaping, his eyes wide and
clearly trying to pull back.

Morgan
growled and stomped over. She grabbed her by the back of her collar.
With little care as to how much power she put into it, she tossed
Tani onto the floor. James meanwhile clambered out of his chair as if
she were still there.

"Ow,
Morgan!" Tani screeched up at her. Morgan stepped to her left
to stand between the two. "What's the matter with you?"

"Me?
I'm sticking up for a friend," Morgan spat back.

Tani
pushed herself up back to her feet, furiously eyeing her. "You
interrupted us." Morgan scoffed loudly in disgust. "Oh very
mature Morgan. Attacking me cos you don't have the stones to make a
move yourself."

Morgan's
eyes widened further, mimicking her mother's killer stare.
"Don't think you're anything like me, I'm not a big creep like
you. Get out of here before I smash your face inside out."

Tani
for a moment looked on in dismay, a frog in her throat. She tried
her best to look mad instead on her way out of the bridge.

"Thanks
Morgan, I owe you one," James said.

"Yeah,
you do, pay up," Morgan said and she held out her hand. The
almost blank and yet still wigged out expression she got in return
wiped any humour from her face. "I'm joking. It's okay, you're
my friend. You would've done the same thing."

James
glanced to one side towards the helm and back again, then gingerly
lowered himself back into the chair.

Lilly
approached them but kept a good feet between her and him. "Is
everything okay?"

"Yeah
yeah, fine," James mumbled as he got back to focusing on the helm.

"Uh..."
Lilly hesitated, sharing a glance with Morgan sighing guiltily.
Before Lilly could say anything to her she walked off. "You can
take five, or maybe ten. Okay?"

James
frowned and looked up at her, "sorry?"

"I'll
watch the controls. You get a drink, have a break. Anything,"
Lilly said, smiling weakly.

James
quietly looked back down at helm, shaking his head. "That's
okay. This is fine."

Lilly's
face fell. "Okay but if you change your mind," she said,
then walked back towards her seat. Harry's bemused expression behind
it ruffled her feathers. "What?"

"Nothing,
just thinking of requesting a transfer to this ship," Harry
said. Lilly laughed as she sat back down in her narrow chair.

Tani
swaggered into the Engine Room, almost giddy at the sight of an
oblivious Jessie half monitoring a console and drinking a small
carton through a straw.

"It's
about time," Jessie muttered like she didn't mean it in between sips.

"I
know," Tani said, almost smug. Jessie finished her drink and
started ignoring the girl, hoping she'd go to the oppositest
side of the room. It only spurred her on though. "Soo, your
little game sorta backfired. Hmm. Too bad, too late, too old."

She
knew it would, but it still tickled her to see Jessie look up at her
with a steely expression. "Yes, this act is a little old. Bother off."

Tani
laughed as if she didn't get it. "I know what is, and aaw too
bad, he's mine now."

Jessie
rolled her eyes and turned her chair away from her.

"No
argument? I guess it's for the best. Just don't say I didn't warn
you," Tani teased as she leaned on the edge of her console.

"Warn
me? You never talk about anything else," Jessie couldn't help
but laugh. "That's pretty sad, but you'll grow up someday, don't worry."

The
insult slapped Tani in the face. "You take him for granted. Not
like me, I..." she stammered. Jessie had enough and decided to
go to the furthest away station herself. Tani ground her teeth as she
followed. "You know what, I was gonna be gracious about it but now..."

Jessie
laughed in disbelief. "Good one."

Tani
scowled and folded her arms. "James kissed me," she said
smugly, but still with some anger.

Jessie's
laughter didn't ease as if she didn't hear anything. Once she was
done she sighed, "I have no stomach or time to hear about your
gross visits to the Holodeck."

"Holodeck?
I mean the real deal," Tani grunted. "Whatever helps you
sleep at night Jesswessy. Didn't think he'd be so gentle and yet so
rough at the same time. He looks so fresh faced, but there's like a
fine stubble I kinda dug."

Jessie
froze, except for her growing skunk eye. Tani smiled, satisfied she
got what she wanted at last, and started to walk away.

"Oh
that's right," Tani snickered. "The only difference I see
is that James didn't push me away like you imagined. So I guess mine
was reciprocal and..."

Jessie
slapped her hard in the face, so much so Tani lost her footing and
stumbled back. The teen looked on in shock, cradling her sore cheek.

"If
this is true, prey I never see you again." Jessie pointed at
the door, "get out before I give you a preview."

"Wow,
you're really territorial. And I'm the sad one," Tani muttered,
then laughed awkwardly. Jessie's hardening stare pushed her back out
the door.

Dave
pulled a few anxious faces, the last couple clouded up his helmet.
Lilly snorted and giggled. "You sent him off? What if we need to
get away in a hurry?" he asked.

Harry
glanced toward the occupied helm. "I don't think we need to
worry about it," he said with a smile.

"Relax
will you. We've found her. All we need to do is bring the coaxial
drive on, and we're outta here," Lilly said, gesturing to the
screen. Within the red clouds Dave could just make out a ship shaped
speck, its similar colour to the nebula made it hard to focus on.
Lilly groaned at her brother's anxious grunts. "Our pilot will
come back after the salvage mission."

Harry
meekly raised his hand above his shoulder. "Question. This
nebula is very dangerous to anyone without nanoprobes. You knew
exactly where this F9 ship was." Lilly bit her lip and glanced
off to one side. "How did it get in here in the first place?"

"The
F9 was a prototype for a number of experimental tech," Dave
replied. Lilly sighed and walked away for a moment. "One of them
was a shield that we've theorised protected the crew from the
radiation, for only a short time. It was the safest place to park her
when she was damaged in the battle with your stupider selves."

"Oh,"
Harry said, a curious expression formed on his face. He eyed the
helm. "So there's a good chance we'll have to cross some old friends
of yours. Are you sure you want to go over?" he asked in Lilly's direction.

"We
won't," Lilly answered. She turned around to walk back over to
them. "The ship will be empty. The problem we have is that the
F9 was meant to self repair and when done, automatically re-activate
certain systems. Clearly it hasn't done any of these things."

"Hardly.
It's a flawed design that handed a few of the older Dellias to the
Sixes," Dave said. Lilly cleared her throat, eyeing him
dangerously. He only laughed it off. "Hey they wanted a new
name, they got it."

Harry
frowned while Lilly rolled her eyes. "We need to decide on a
team. We're already short on people," she said.

"F9's
been in this death trap for a while, the toxic fumes are going to be
so much worse than our ship is," Dave said.

"What
are you implying?" Harry said mid cringe.

Lilly
shook her head. "We get it, you're a pansy so you'll stay here.
I'll lead the team, I know that ship inside and out."

Dave's
face softened, "Lill?"

"It's
fine," Lilly countered determinedly. "I'll ask Emma, she
might remember the way around. All I'm worried about is that the ship
was severely damaged, we might need some muscle to get around."
Harry was about to chime in. "But, to activate the core we need
someone in the Engine Room and the Bridge. So that's two... muscle pairs."

"Bingo
baby," Dave chuckled to his sister's embarrassment. "What's
the problem? We have a couple of Slayers on our merry cruise."

Harry
winced as well. "That only leaves me, Tani and you on the Z5."

"Ooph,
point taken," Dave suddenly looked worried. "The helm
controls do not go well with these cumbersome suits." He
gestured his glove trying to grasp something.

"It's
fine," Lilly said abruptly. "If anyone follows us in here,
we'll have plenty of time to return and retreat. It's no biggie. I'll
call them."

Lilly
and Dave frowned. They turned towards the helm. Their eyes bugged
out at the sight of Emma in a environmental suit as well, moving
around the joystick looking thing. That was also when they noticed
via the viewscreen that they were spinning in random directions.

"Emma,
old ship, may have creepy things there," Lilly quickly
stuttered while running over to her.

Emma
stopped and eyed her suspiciously. "I'm not falling for that
one again." Both Dave and Harry mouthed again to their horror.

"Please,
I'll let you into the armoury just this once if you come,"
Lilly pleaded.

Dave
shook his head rapidly, "no no, oh god."

Emma's
eyes and smile widened. "Okeydoke!" she laughed and got
up, leaving the ship upside down and floating towards the other ship.
Lilly panicked and tried to fix it, struggling with the lever due to
the huge gloves. In the end she pressed the brakes, abruptly bringing
their ship to a rough stop.

Jessie
peered around an open door to find a long rectangular room lined
from ground to ceiling with rifles and other strange looking weapons.
There she spotted James barely looking over them, occasionally
picking one up to not look at.

Emma
behind him seemed to be stripping the walls and packing multiple bags.

"Hey,"
Jessie said, armed with a friendly smile. He looked at her in mild
surprise. "Window shopping?"

"Huh?"
He glanced at where he was earlier. "Oh well yeah, I guess."

Jessie's
heart sank, the anger from earlier started to boil. She pretended to
laugh to cover both. "Well you might want to pick a few to try
on before the sale hoarders take everything."

James
frowned, then looked behind him just in time to find Emma admiring
what looked like a chainsaw. He quickly snatched it from her. She
responded with a childlike aaw and pout.

"So
er..." Jessie said, straining to think of what to say. "How
about those erm, peanut butter... popcorn they have here."

Emma
grimaced, "eeew!" She hurried off with some of her bags,
leaving James looking very confused.

"Great,
that's better," Jessie sighed in relief. "I just wanted to
see if you were alright."

James'
confusion turned into nervousness. "Yeah why?"

His
demeanour change made Jessie subconsciously fidget on the spot.
"I had to endure some, bragging."

James
shrugged and returned to gazing in the general direction of the
weapons wall. "Nothing that a..." he took a one at random.
One button press and a laser sword shot up from the handle. "A
bit of Star Wars'ing won't cure."

Jessie
quietly laughed when he switched it back off. "You don't have
to do that. It's just us here. I understand."

"It's
okay. Morgan helped," James said with disgust he couldn't hide.
He shook his head, "wasn't for long."

"James,"
Jessie said softly, "you're allowed to be upset about it.
Remember what you told me; it's not your fault."

"Yeah,"
James said unenthusiastically. Jessie frowned at his tone. "It
keeps happening, different women, so maybe I'm doing something."

The
anger bubbled, Jessie tensed to keep it contained. "That's not
what you said when we were at school, and I kept getting pestered.
How is it suddenly different when it's you?" While talking she
remembered Tani's similar comment earlier, a lump formed in her
throat, choking her into silence.

James
seemed to sense it, he looked on in concern, "no I guess it's
not. You're right. Sorry." He walked around her without choosing
a weapon. Jessie was too busy fretting to notice.

An
awayteam consisting of Morgan, James, Lilly and Emma materialised at
the back of an overly large and mostly red bridge.

Lilly's
face softened as she looked around, a couple of tears in her eyes
threatened to fall. "Right where I left her," she murmured
on her way to the biggest chair sitting at the dead centre of the
back wall.

"What?"
Morgan's voice startled her into sitting on the armrest instead.
"Did you leave your drink there? Gross, it'll be all flat."

James
walked over to what looked at first like a hole in the floor at the
back right of the bridge. When he got there he noticed the stairs
heading down to the next deck. "Right. Maybe half of us should
get to engineering."

Lilly
wobbled a bit on her chair, then looked around to see if anyone saw.
No one did to her relief. "Emma?" Her friend glanced across
at her, "do you remember the way?"

"Me?"
Emma complained and grimaced, "with him?" After some
rummaging through the bag she brought, she giggled maliciously,
"fine. If he tries to kill me again, I got this."

"I
wasn't trying..." James protested.

Emma
pulled out the chainsaw she tried to take earlier, her eyes wide
with glee. "Let's go, stabby."

Lilly
laughed nervously, "um Emma. The weapons bribe wasn't so you'd
bring some with you. There shouldn't be anything to kill here."

"We
both know that doesn't help," James tried to say with humour,
but it fell flat. He followed Emma down the stairs.

"Maybe
I should go instead of him," Morgan said on route towards Lilly.

She
meanwhile hurriedly stood back up, looking very alarmed. "No,
no. Emma doesn't do that anymore. He'll be fine. Besides if I'm
wrong, he's tough so he can defend himself."

Morgan's
widening eyes drifted off to one side. "Er, doesn't do what anymore?"

"And
then there was that one creep who..." Emma giggled. "It
was so funny."

James
hung back trying not to listen. A door to his left distracted him,
so he thankfully missed the gory details. The words Stasis Area
stopped him cold. "Uh, hang on."

"Then
it was pizza time..." Emma said over the top of him
unintentionally. She grumbled impatiently. "Oh don't be a baby,
it was just a little pinch."

"No,"
James said. "Stasis area?"

Emma
flinched, stopping her as well. "Well yeah, the radiation
nebula and all."

James
frowned toward the door. "But you and Lilly." Emma left
without him, making him sigh. He was about to do the same when he
thought to scan the door first. The results he got kept him there,
pressing his fingers at the cracks in the door, denting them slightly
enough to get a grip on them. The groaning metal noise that made drew
Emma back the way she came. By the time she returned the door was
spread open, and she could see no one around. She shuddered before
running inside.

"Hey,
remember my tug and pull story!" she growled.

"No,"
James said, more interested in the seven foot tall booths dotted all
around a massive cargo bay. "These still work, there's people
alive in here."

Emma
paled, her jaw dropped. "What? But..." she hurried over to
peer inside the same one he was standing in front of. "They're
still here. But how, why?"

Emma
shook her head, then glared fiercely at him. "We can't. The
radiation will kill them. We need to go to Engineering."

James
slowly glanced between the booth and her, both brows narrowing.
"That wasn't any of my questions."

Emma
hurried off once more without him, leaving him baffled.

Z5:Dave
popped a second headphone in with a pained grimace, while Tani sat
beside him completely oblivious and rambling.

The
lift doors had barely finished opening when Jessie squeezed through
them hurriedly, only to stop and look around. A little sigh of relief
and she wandered over to Harry. "Second time's the charm. Hey,
do you pick up that EM field too?"

Harry
stared at her concerned. "You mean the echo we were getting
from the shields, that was..." he glared in Dave's direction,
"just a hum!"

"Oh
my god!" Dave shouted as he jumped up to his feet, "these
aren't noise cancelling." He stomped off to the right, towards
another door.

Jessie
quickly ambushed him and yanked the headphones straight out of his
ears. "There's someone else here!"

Dave
ran over to the nearest empty station. "Ohno. Let me see."
A few taps activated the viewscreen, but nothing really changed. The
only difference was the lack of red ship. Even so his face paled, he
slammed his hand onto another button. "Lilly, he's here. Don't
reactivate the ship, get the shield up."

"Um,
what, who?" Tani squeaked.

Damien
chuckled at the image of the F9 and Z5 straight ahead on his own
screen. The rest of his bridge crew looked on impatiently, almost
everyone furiously scratching some painful looking red blotches on
their skin.

Tom
grunted but not because his latest scratching had left his hand
bleeding all over the helm. "What are we stalling for? I'm bored
and my console's dirty."

Seventh
Harry gasped, "they're scanning the area."

Damien
scowled at no one in particular. "Why would they scan
when..." a thought came to him, making him growl. "Who
messed up this time?" Everyone pointed at Tom, even him.
"Fine! Plan D, boarding part with me."

"Oh
goodie!" Annika's evil self Six laughed like a child and ran
off into the turbolift.

Damien
shuddered in revulsion. He followed her, pointing at random people
on the way. "I won't ask twice. Now." Everyone he pointed
at fidgeted, terrified.

"But,
that red junk heap has been in this burning nebula for ages. It'll
probably be more exposed to it than we are," Chakotay said.

Phoebe
shrugged indifferently, "so? We only have one suit left. It's
first come, first serve."

The
nameless crewmembers panicked and ran out, pushing and shoving into
the same turbolift. Damien was not impressed that he had to wait for
the next one.

Inside
the F9's overly large engine room, Emma and James hovered around a
strange circular machine at the far back. Emma rooted around a drawer
nearby, mumbling incoherently. James paced nearby, eyeing other consoles.

"Johnstone
to Stuart. Problem. We have company."

Emma
turned away and looked up, wide eyed. "Oooh, is it
vampires?" James looked at her curiously. "Oh, the Tolg?
Nah, they're gross."

"Emma,
don't start the core. You know what to do instead."

"Great,"
Emma sighed in relief, slamming the drawer shut. Seconds later her
chainsaw was not only out of the bag again, but powered on. "I
sure do."

They
heard Lilly sigh, then a massive thud in the direction of the door
they came through. Many more followed, denting the door so much there
wasn't much left of it, only a unshapely hole at its centre.

Emma
giddily ran over, brandishing the chainsaw in front of her, only to
get immediately shot by a phaser. She made a little disappointed aaaw
as she passed out.

"Oh
look at that," Damien chuckled on his way inside, followed by
burned unknowns armed with rifles. "Not one," he said
eyeing Emma first, then James, "but two presents for old
me." Satisfied James wasn't going to try attacking him as well,
he turned to the left to one of his companions. "Good job,
Ensign whatever." They didn't respond since they were too busy
choking on their fresh throat burns and collapsing seconds later. Two
more of his people went down. "Oh well. Six!"

Six
galloped forward through the new opening. "Yessum!"

"Do
what you must, but bring him to me alive," Damien ordered. He
focused on the remaining unknowns, one of which was safely dressed in
one of the protective environmental suits, just in time for all
without one to collapse as well. He groaned loudly, "take her to
the torture bay."

In
the meantime Six approached James looking ready to fight, he on the
other hand was trying not to gag at her undead stench. "Put em
up pretty boy," she said, meekly raising her hands as if ready
for a slap fight.

"Okay,
hang on," James tried to sound put out. He rolled his sleeve
down to cover his hand before delivering a gentle looking backhand,
still she flew back a few feet on her way down.

Damien
and the last nameless cocked their weapons as loudly as possible to
get his attention. "Don't think that'll earn your freedom,"
Damien chuckled, his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the twitching
Six on the floor. "Come with us, or the girl dies." He
pointed his phaser down towards Emma sleeptalking about pulling
something off and laughing.

James
sighed at the same time the ship rocked, the hull groaned in
response. Damien slapped his commbadge, "you idiots, we want
this ship in one piece."

"It's
not us," Phoebe answered.

The
Z5:Dave
watched the screen as a prolonged phaser strike revealed the belly
of Voyager hiding within the clouds. "Jessie," Dave started
to order.

The
Z5 bridge watched Voyager decloak while coming to a stop directly in
front of them, leaving the two ships nose to nose.

"What
are they doing?" Jessie mumbled.

"Dunno,
that can't be good," Dave said. "Lilly, it's now or never."

F9:"Check,"
Lilly tried to say with confidence, but the computer she was using
kept complaining at her.

A
loud clatter from below them got Morgan and Lilly's attention.

"I
thought you said the boarding party were in Engineering," Lilly said.

"They
should be," Morgan mumbled. She ran over to the stairs leading
down to deck 2. The door at the bottom looked almost folded over. She
raised her fist as she made her way down, cautiously. The door tore
further open. The person on the other side sent shivers down Morgan's
spine and instantly made her feel sick. "Oh my god, it's hideous!"

"What?"
Lilly stammered, eyes wide.

A
phaser shot rang out, followed quickly by a thud tensed her further.
She warily peered over the console she was at.

"Oooh
red and... red? Ugh, what a clash," Six strolled up the stairs
with her new black eye. "Don't you know, contrast is queen."

"Uh,"
Lilly stuttered as she hurriedly finished what she was doing.

Z5:"F9's
shields are active," Harry said.

"Good.
Jessie, resume attacking," Dave ordered.

Jessie
winced at the readouts before her, making an unsure moan. Ever since
they decloaked, the other Voyager had done nothing but raise their
shields. They were waiting for something, she figured. "Ok,
sure," she said slowly, cautiously reaching for the weaker
phaser like weapons.

"They're
powering weapons," Seventh Harry said, dabbing his sweat
drenched hair. Some of it fell off into his hands, bringing him to tears.

Oblivious,
Damien smiled. "Show time."

The
Z5 fired a short phaser burst towards Voyager. The blast struck the
shields, which merely wobbled for a bit. Seconds later a similar
blast emanated from that exact spot and flew into the Z5's face, its
shields sprang up and to the laymen's eye caught fire for an instant.

Inside
the bridge's computers were all overloading; sparking and starting fires.

"What
the hell happened?" Dave shouted over the noise.

Harry
pushed his chair to the side to get to a less scaldy side of his
station. "They matched our weapon frequencies but..." He
winced as one part of the panel started to sizzle. "That
shouldn't have happened. What hit us didn't have the same power as
what we threw at them." He had to give up, so ran over to a
different console. "Power failures on decks 1 through 20."

Jessie
cringed, her clenched fists slammed against her own knee.
"Shields are fried." She had to move away as her station
started to smoke, "so's Tactical."

Dave
ran over to the helm to hurriedly tap something on the keyboard
looking part. "Lilly, can you hear me?" All he got for a
reply was static. "Hurry, while we still have power, beam our
team back."

Harry
worked fast, ignoring the beads of sweat raining down his chin.
"I'm only picked up two lifesigns, both on the bridge."

Damien
darkly laughed to himself watching the Z5 gradually lose all of its
power and drifting to one side. The F9 lay for the taking in the
background, looking a little listless as well. "Get a lock on
it, get us out of here."

Tom
scratched his already bleeding face. "Owwww," he cried.
Still he listened, but it took him twice as long as the console was a
bit sticky from his own drying up blood.

Dave
could only watch helplessly out the window as Voyager tractored the
red ship and flew out of his line of sight. The rest of the bridge's
consoles and lights gave up, leaving only the flames as a source of light.

"Wow
that was badass. How did we pull that off?" Seventh Harry
giddily laughed. The Doctor injected him with a hypospray and moved
onto the next person, an ensign passed out on the floor. He gave them
a little finger poke, got no response so walked off instead.

"We?"
Damien scoffed. "You imbeciles can barely work the replicators
on this ship. Without me you're useless."

"Seems
so," Chakotay sneered towards Phoebe sitting in her chair.

She
glared back. "Fifth will detect us without our cloak. But with
it they'll spot the F9 flying out on its own with no engines."

"I'm
aware," Damien groaned. "We don't need much time. I'll
strip what I want from its carcass, then we'll leave before they know
what happened."

"Right,"
Phoebe didn't sound convinced.

Damien
walked over to her, narrowing his suspicious eyes at her. "Is
there a problem, Mother?"

"No,"
Phoebe lied. "I'm just surprised that your master become a Borg
plan was solely for a simple ship snatch. What about all of our plans
for the Ligers, their empire is for the taking. Without the two brats..."

Damien
grunted in disgust. "A few stragglers and the idiot Sixes.
Hardly worth the lack of effort. My plans are far more grand."

"I
don't suppose you'd mind sharing," Phoebe muttered.

"In
good time. I won't forget your sacrifice to the cause," Damien
said, pressing a hand against his chest with a smug glint in his eye.
He walked away, leaving Phoebe seething again. "If Voyager
comes, give me a call. For now I've got some sweet revenge to take
care of."

Once
he was gone Phoebe stared darkly at where he once stood. Chakotay
looked on concerned. "Even you?" he said.

Phoebe
gave him a brief nod. "It's not too late. Our Alex will still
be king with or without that walking ego's help."

Chakotay
fidgeted on the spot, "but how? We don't know how Damien is
controlling him."

"Maybe
by remote control like in that documentary about the sun ship,"
Tom suggested.

Everyone
ignored him, as per usual.

"It's
okay. His revenge should keep him busy. We'll take what we want from
our new ship, then set a course for Voyager," Phoebe said.

Fifth
Voyager:Craig
shook his head despondently. "No response. They're dead in the water."

Kathryn
paced the back of the bridge, drumming her fingers behind her back.
"How the hell did we not see those idiots until now?" The
whole bridge was silent, not that she was expecting anything other
than a joke from Tom. "We can't concern ourselves with them just
yet. We need to help our people first. Have we had any luck
contacting the rest of the Z-Fleet?"

"Seventh's
parked on the other side of the nebula. They're not in a hurry,"
Craig offered.

Kathryn's
eyes narrowed, "they're either using that ship as bait, or
they're not expecting us to have noticed them yet. Keep a close eye
on those wannabes. I want ideas people, one hour." She made her
way to the Ready Room.

"Am
I the only one wondering why everyone, including us, is so obsessed
with this centuries old ship?" Tom said. "I hope it isn't
so Neelix can raid its kitchen."

On
board the Z5 they had managed to get most of the emergency lighting
on, and gathered around the bridge looking sullen. All except Jessie,
who paced around at the back looking agitated.

"This
is bad. If they get the core working, there's no telling what
they'll do with it," Lilly said.

"Annoy
other people for a change," Morgan suggested not seriously.

Harry
sniggered quietly. "Well yeah, that too. But if they get the
F9's coaxial core to work on their Voyager, our people won't know the
difference until it's too late."

"Um,
can I just remind everyone here that this is Seventh Voyager.
They're all idiots," Tani said.

"They
tricked us, kidnapped the F9 and two of our people, left us for dead
in a toxic nebula. How dumb are we?" Dave pointed out.

Jessie
rolled her eyes as she stopped nearby. "That'd explain the lack
of action going on around here."

Lilly
glanced up at her, "with only Dave and I left, there's not much
we can do. Unless you learned our whole systems during our little day trip."

"No,
but I know some who might," Jessie said. Everyone turned to her
this time looking a slight impatient. "You guys aren't that
observant, are you? You have tricorders, scan for life."

"Okay
I'll bite," Harry said. A few seconds later he looked worried.
"I'm picking up more lifesigns on this ship. They boarded us
too, we'd better..."

"No,"
Jessie quickly snapped. She tapped on the little tricorder looking
communications device in her palm. "Doc, how's it going?"

"One
down, thirty to go."

Jessie's
face fell, "oh, it's a start."

Lilly
jumped to her feet to face her better. "The stasis units? They
were still there? Why didn't you say anything until now?"

"James
and I were sorting it out still when Seventh arrived. That was more
urgent," Jessie snapped back. Lilly hesitated and backed off a
step. "What are you so pissed for? This is your crew, right, or
are you hiding things again? I hope James and your friend weren't
kidnapped for nothing."

Tani
widened her eyes to the maximum, "huh what?"

Harry
groaned, "get a new tune Jessie." He was glared into a
puddle of goop. "Tani."

"No,
no I wasn't..." Lilly said, glancing at her similarly confused
brother. "When we took the F9 into this nebula, we had to use
stasis but..."

"That
figures," Morgan commented.

"Yeah
guess..." Lilly mumbled, a little annoyed. "But some
stayed behind to make sure the F9 would be shut down until its auto
repairs were done. It would then set autopilot so it'd leave and
finally wake up the crew."

"Wait
a minute" Jessie stammered.

Dave
clicked his tongue a couple of times, "you want answers or not?"

"To
be honest, unless it helps us get this ship up and running, no not
really," Jessie grumbled.

"I
want that too, but you gotta chill Jess. James will be fine. We both
know he's not going down that easy," Morgan said. She tried to
ignore Tani's dreamy giggle for her sanity and gag reflex's sake.
"This might be important enough to help us out."

"It
won't," Lilly shot out so fast it sounded like one word. "I
don't know how it ends. Whoever betrayed us back then, they might
still be there. That's all I'm worried about."

"What?"
Dave sounded shocked, "you never mentioned a traitor."

Lilly
looked very sorry for herself, almost guilty. "There's a good
reason for that. You're better off not knowing." Dave stared at
her, flummoxed. "Keep up with the stasis units, but check who is
in each one first. The pods don't let anyone in without a scan of
their ID, so."

Lilly's
face turned deathly white in just a couple of seconds.
"Oh..." Dave looked on in sympathy.

"He's
not the traitor, is he?" Harry questioned.

"No,"
Lilly tried to sigh to calm herself. "Just a bad memory.
I'm..." She walked of towards the lift doors, which had been
left open to allow access to the empty shaft. "Going to go fix
things. That's more my thing."

Once
she was safely out of earshot, Tani piped up far too eagerly,
"who's Scot?"

"Second
in command of the F9. A bit of a block head who will be no use,"
Dave answered. "Maybe we should move on."

"Oh,
this sounds juicy," Tani laughed.

Jessie
passed her a wicked side eye that even unnerved her. "That
reminds me. I found this, but I didn't know where it was from,"
she said while bringing out a large, clunky piece of metal.

"Oh,
that's the..." Dave sounded relieved.

"You
don't have the stones, old hag!" Tani spat back. Dave cringed
since he was more or less in between the two.

Jessie
smiled sweetly, "this is better than any stone."

Harry
coughed uncomfortably, "ladies. It can wait. Remember?" He
frowned, disgusted, "the sooner we fix this ship, the sooner
James is rescued."

Tani
grinned broadly as if she'd won, then stuck her tongue out towards
Jessie. She meanwhile lowered the block with a disappointed groan and
narrowing eyes. "Do that again, and I'll make sure you never
ever can use it again."

"I
dunno why you're so pissy worried for. Unlike you I have faith in
him to handle himself. You treat him like a little baby," Tani said.

Dave
shuffled further towards Harry, he widened his eyes and hurried off
to get out of firing range.

"Ookay!"
Dave panicked. "Tani, you go with Lilly, give her a hand. Harry
and I will continue restoring power. Morgan and Jessie..."
Morgan narrowed her eyes, cutting him off, but it wasn't him she was
doing that to, but a figure climbing out of the lift shaft. Only it
wasn't Lilly, but a lean young man with scruffy brown hair looking
around cautiously. Once he spotted the people watching him, he seemed
to relax a little. "Jimbo Dave," he laughed. Tani snickered
quietly. "Mind sharing the news?"

Dave
groaned as if he were really in pain. "It's just Dave.
Everyone, this is Scot Shepard. Scot, for quickness sake, these are
our allies."

Scot
eyed the suspicious Morgan first, then Dave. "The bald guy
too?" Dave nodded. "Right, a catch up would be swell."

Scot
almost got whiplash looking in Dave's direction. "What? How did
they find us? Where's Lilly?"

Dave
shuddered, "cut that out, she's fine, leave her be." Scot
rolled his eyes before wandering off. "It's a long story. Right
now we need this ship up and running so we can get it and our people back."

Jessie
and Morgan shared similar annoyed looks. Dave meanwhile ground his
teeth. "Ever since we lost the F9, the first time, we've built
many more ships. Now..." he explained.

Scot
laughed insincerely. "Yeah whatever. I assume baldly is
reviving everyone else." He waited till he at least got a nod.
"Might I suggest you avoid waking up a fella you call Uncle Ragha."

"Why?
Our replicators are down, so it'd be a miracle if he found any
booze," Dave said.

Scot
stared as if judging him. "Yeah, you're right. Without booze
and no enemy to sleep with, we should be safe."

"What
the hell are you talking about?" Dave snapped.

"It's
a long story," Scot said in a similar tone Dave did earlier.
"We've got work to do. Who here is good with weapons?" No
one answered him. "Well fine, I work better solo. I assume
things haven't changed much..."

"Just
leave the shields to us," Dave grumbled.

Scot
winked and walked around the bridge, looking for tactical.

"He's
a first officer?" Jessie groaned.

"Yep,
like I said, block head. On the F9 it wasn't what you know but
who," Dave replied. "Jessie can you work with him?"

Seventh
Voyager:A
dozen guards walked alongside James toward what he thought would be
Sickbay. Despite it being the same room, their version seemed to be
coated in red lights and filled with strange, bizarre looking tools.
There already, Damien watched the Doctor secure an unconscious Emma
to the biobed with metal restraints over her limbs. Damien sneered in
James' direction when he noticed his presence.

"Ah
our next patient. Do come in," he snickered on approach,
gradually getting more and more suspicious with every step. "Did
you check?" he asked one of the guards.

He
tapped on the PADD in his hand, triggering a tiny jolt from Emma's
restraints. It woke Emma up with a startled, "hey don't touch
the gumballs. Huh?"

"Co-operate,
or the volts rise," Damien sniggered. He gestured to the guards.

James
didn't look impressed as they filed out one by one, leaving him
alone with the mad doctor, the strange bald teenager and their
patient. "Why don't we get ahead on the cliche back and forth
banter. What do you want with us?" James asked.

Damien
responded with an obnoxious squeaky laugh. "I don't know how
that idiot clone of yours managed to fool me. There's such an
annoying difference." He approached, eyeing him with cautious
hatred. "It's very simple, so you shouldn't have any trouble.
You two deserve what's coming to you. Lie on the other bed. Doc!"

The
Doctor sniggered maliciously, "which one? The needle injector
or the amputator?"

James
glanced between him and Damien, raising an eyebrow. "Ok, I
suppose it would be idiot-proof to brainwash the hologram."

"Yes,
it was," Damien sneered, then his brow twitched in annoyance.
"The injections table! This needs to be slow."

"Aaaw,"
the Doctor moaned, putting down the recently picked up saw. He
begrudgingly pointed at the bed to Emma's right.

"Now,"
Damien ordered, pointing toward the padd the Doctor was still holding.

"Fine,"
James groaned. Once he lay down the Doctor pressed on the padd
anyway, but instead of shocking Emma, they brought forth metal
restraints like hers over James' bed.

Damien
cackled in his usual villainous style, meanwhile pushing in front of
the Doctor. "Push off."

"What?"
he grunted.

"It's
no fun if you help..." Damien said flatly, then he frowned,
"no wait, why am I arguing with this thing? Computer, delete the EMH."

"You
son of a..." the Doctor complained as he fizzled out of existence.

"Now,"
Damien chuckled, focusing on a tray nearby full of different
equipment. "Who should be first?"

Emma
turned only her head towards James, "who's the bald creep?"

He
shrugged, "I dunno, but maybe we should humour him for a bit,
he seems a bit sensitive."

Damien
blinked furiously at them both, "very well, if you insist!"
Huffily he grabbed what looked like a syringe from the tray and
stomped closer to James' bed, aiming it in his direction. Emma's
laughing and pretend huffing made him jab it into James' shoulder as
if it were a knife. "That should dull your senses. Since you
have nothing much to you, you'll probably not notice the difference.
At least not yet."

"Speaking
from experience, hmm?" Emma taunted him. Damien swung around,
grabbing the first thing his hand brushed in the tray. "While we
wait, for you I have some karma. A serum that mimics the pain a man
feels when he's kicked in your favourite place to strike. Only it's
all over the body, and lasts longer."

"No
thanks. I'd rather do it for real, maybe inch a bit closer,"
Emma said, fidgeting in her cuffs. Damien leaned in with the
hypospray, making her look bemused as well as disgusted. "I
think you're getting your nappies crossed, he's over there." The
spray was pushed into her arm. Moments later stabbing pains struck
her stomach over and over again, triggering the need to double over
but she was stuck where she was. All she could do was twitch and bite
her lip.

Damien
laughed at her pain while James shifted slightly, he seemed to be
stuck as well. "Oh sorry, I got ahead of myself, that was the
second injection," Damien pretended to sound concerned. Emma
stared furiously at him. "Fun, fun. Now where's the one where
the vic slowly suffocates?" He started rummaging through his tray.

"You've
already used that one," James muttered.

Damien
pretended to look confused. "What's that?" He turned to
peer over him, "feeling a little groggy there, killer? Then it's
your turn a lot sooner, good. I hope you know how to hold your
breath, this'll last longer."

Z5:"Ah
ha, there it is," Scot said from under a console. Jessie stood
nearby, absent mindedly drumming her fingers. "These new
phasers. We're lucky you didn't blow us up with that stunt. They're
packing way too much juice."

Scot
stuck his head out to peer up at her, "at double the power, I
know. It wouldn't have done this much damage, unless your new better
shields are like tin foil."

"Doesn't
matter now. I want to know how they snuck up on us with their fancy
cloak they did not have in our previous encounters," Jessie said.

"Yep,
he wouldn't stop boasting about it but it was always a no show,"
Scot said, standing back up. "Look, I'm bummed they got the
ship too..."

"Yeah
right," Jessie scoffed.

"Oh,"
Scot sighed, "they took one of yours. Weird, wonder why. Was it
someone his Voyager didn't have yet?"

"No...
kinda," Jessie mumbled to his confusion, "forget it."

"Yes,
we want to know why Lilly fled in horror the moment she knew you
were awake," Harry said on approach.

Jessie
rolled her eyes. "Learned from the best, huh Harry?"

Harry
was put off, offended for a moment. Scot as well until he realised
something, then his whole frame fell. "Oh, she did. Course."

"Course?"
Harry said in a hinting tone.

"I
dunno," Scot hesitated. "If I don't tell the whole thing,
I don't come off too well." At the opposite side of the bridge
Dave laughed bitterly. "Fine, as well. It might explain other
things too, so two birds, one shot. "We had recently arrived
back home, only to be immediately redrafted on another mission. For
it we had some important company."

The
red ship still in its prime entered orbit with a couple other ships
around a golden planet, the blaring sun behind it cast a shadow over
the ships.

Lilly
stomped ahead up into the bridge, her face red, followed by a middle
aged man sporting similar red hair and a lighter shaded goatee.

"No
way, this is my ship. I'll call it what I bloody want," she whined.

"This
is the flagship of the fleet, our first impression with other races.
Be reasonable," the man argued.

"The
only one embarrassed when we met the Vulcans was you, Uncle,"
Lilly hissed.

Scot
dared to approach them both. "Lilly, what..." The man
cleared his throat, expecting something from him. "Minister
Ragha, welcome to the Lil..."

"No!
We can't call it that anymore!" Lilly huffily said, eyeing the
man. "It's too girly and kiddy,
like me."

"That's
not what I mean. You're putting words in my mouth," Ragha tried
to say in a soothing voice.

Lilly
scowled back at her uncle. "Oh go put a bottle in it instead,
it's used to it."

Ragha
laughed nervously, "you're really proving your own point."
He handed her a little tablet, she turned her head away from him.
"They claim to be from a mirror universe,
unable to get back home.
Since they're humans, we're meeting them on the down low," he
whispered the last part.

Lilly
peered at what he'd give her, she laughed bitterly at it.
"Voyager? And you're worried that I name my ships after me."
She walked off chuckling, "what's it doing here? Did it get
turned around at Pluto and nobody bothered to ask for directions?"

"Buck
up kiddo," Ragha deeply laughed as he followed her, only to try
and ruffle her hair. She side stepped to avoid it. "I'll get out
of your hair for now. Call me when we arrive. It's my job to make
first contact with our hillbilly cousins."

Lilly
waited for him to go back the way he came and for the door to shut
so she could click her tongue. "You got all that?"

"Enough,"
Scot replied. "Maybe it's time for the G series after all."

"No,"
Lilly cringed. "I always said the F9 would be the last Lillyia,
but not like this. I don't wanna change the name," Lilly complained.

Scot
sighed, "yeah me neither, it's nice." Lilly eyed him
suspiciously, and he wasn't the only one, some of the bridge crew
stared as well. "You know, cos you like ship designing and
stuff, so nice that you put yourself into every ship."

"This
is supposed to be the better, your version of this?" Harry said
in a bored voice, his chin cupped in his hand. The rest of the bridge
had similar expressions and positions.

Scot looked
on awkwardly towards his listeners. "I haven't even gotten to
that part yet. Anyway, we reached this mysterious Voyager. We were a
little too shocked that Humans could build such a thing even in an
AU, that we didn't realise something was off about them until we met
Janeway in person."

"Hi,
welcome to the..." Scot trailed off to a an embarrassed mutter, "F9."

Scot
and the two security crewmembers he brought, stared at the woman
with similar blank stares. Beside her Chakotay painted on a friendly
smile. "You had a drink only two seconds ago. You were still
drinking it when we were transporting."

Janeway
looked down at the cup in her hands. "Oooh!" her eyes
bugged out as she quickly chugged whatever was in it.

"I
dunno, that seems pretty normal to us," Jessie said.

Scot
thought she was joking, he snorted into sniggers until he noticed
Dave's very forced straight face and eyes rolling to the side. "Oh."

"I'm
Commander Chakotay, first officer of the USS Voyager," Chakotay
said, trying desperately to avoid looking at his Captain with the
remainder of her drink stuck to her cheek. "We're so happy to
meet you."

"Yes,
so happy we brought these," Janeway said, pointing to a chest
by her feet. "Courtesy of our chef."

Kathryn
turned to gesture at the rest of her party. "I hope you don't
mind, but I asked for my dimension travel experts to come as well.
This is Six..." Six waved too much with a super cheerful grin on
her face. "Don't worry, we rescued her from those gross zombie
robots, she's one of us."

"Great,"
Kathryn broadly smiled as well. "And this is my dear sister
Phoebe." The F9 crew got metaphorical whiplash looking at the
woman staring daggers at the wall. She heard her name and forced a
smile onto her face. "Long story short, her little oopsie is why
we're here."

Phoebe's
smile almost lost its structural integrity. "Yes well, you make
one little typo and you never hear the annoying end of it."

"You
can travel dimensions?" Scot questioned uneasily.

Phoebe
rolled her eyes and looked away, mouthing duh. Only Scot noticed.
Kathryn giggled innocently, "oh we get up to all sorts. Time
travel, stuff, you name it."

Scot's
blank face twitched, "um, then why do you need us?"

"It's
a little embarrassing," Chakotay admitted. "We've been
lost for a long time and wanted to go home. Only we can't find it.
This is the closest reality to ours."

Scot
tried to hide his discomfort, "er Kim, why don't you two take
them to the boardroom. I'll join you after I..."

"Oh
are you getting the refreshments? Tea and scones would be
lovely," Kathryn said, sighing like she was relaxing on a beach.

Lilly
didn't look impressed sitting in the big chair, she pointed at the
screen at the front of the bridge. Scot looked to see a furious
Chakotay taking up most of it.

"About
time. Perhaps you'd like to explain this," he growled.

"Er,
explain..." Scot said as Chakotay moved aside to show he was in
the Conference Room. Everyone saw Kathryn passed out over the large
table, surrounded by cups. "Erm, forgive me but I don't see
anything wrong."

"This
is a mistake, surely..." Ragha's voice said from off screen.

Lilly
bolted upright, her eyes wide in horror. "Uncle?"

"Very
funny Shepard," Chakotay grumbled. "I hope you realise
this is a declaration of war, Ligers. And you had the cheek to call
us the barbarians."

"I...
don't understand, she..." Scot stuttered.

"What's
to misunderstand? Kathryn is dead, our baby walked in on the so
called negotiations," Chakotay snarled. "Instead she found
her mummy like this, and your drunken minister standing over her."

Lilly
hurried forward, passing Scot and standing behind the helmsman.
"Wait, let me speak to the minister. We have no reason to attack
your captain, we..."

Tuvok
walked up beside Chakotay. "Logically there are a multitude of
reasons. The obvious one is that you live in an utopia with your
advanced technology, while the vast majority of your fellow humans
live in the past, so to speak. They die of starvation, wars,
prejudice and ignorance."

"But..."
Lilly protested.

"Admit
it, we are nothing but vermin to you. You were never going to
welcome us here," Chakotay grumbled.

Ragha
briefly entered the screen, struggling with James. "Lilly,
don't listen, they're..." he cried before he was dragged back
out of sight.

"You
will come to regret this. On the seventh hour, we strike,"
Chakotay said, then the screen changed to show Voyager facing them.

"This
story contradicts Lilly's, quite a bit," Jessie said suspiciously.

Scot
nodded, "I'm not surprised. She worshiped her uncle as a kid.
What he did..."

Tani
glanced between them both looking very bored. "When are you
getting to the part with you pissing off Lilly?"

"I'd
be finished if people stopped interrupting me," Scot snapped.
The way Dave looked across, the others assumed it was out of
character for him. Scot cleared his throat, "that wasn't the
start of the war. Voyager was a lone ship with no backup. Humans in
our reality and time were, primitive to say the least. We agreed to
help them return home in exchange that they return Ragha, we'd trial
him and punish if needs be. He wasn't. That... was our downfall. The
public were divided on it, the ones who already opposed monarchy rule
called it an abuse of power."

Tani
groaned loudly, "oh, so all you did was try to lock up her
Uncle. Boring."

"I
wish," Scot said. Jessie and Morgan frowned at him, Harry tried
not to laugh instead. "Lilly refused to believe he killed her.
He insisted he was late to the conference because he was... with
Janeway's sister."

Morgan
cringed, "eeew, you mean...?" Scot nodded. Dave though
shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"No
he doesn't. He's stalling, talking rubbish," Dave groaned.
"Everyone knows that Janeway was murdered by her own sister. Why
do you think Phoebe took over the Voyager instead of Chakotay? He
knew all along who did it, she had him and everyone else wrapped
around her finger. A devious woman, cleverer than she makes out."

Scot
stomped over to him, "you're in denial Jimbo."

"For
the last time..." Dave snapped.

"Yeah
yeah, you're Davey. You're trying to tell me you forgot Ragha
campaigned for democracy rule, that royalty was an archaic human
invention we had to abandon. And what do you know, he got what he
wanted," Scot rambled. Dave scoffed and walked off to work on a
broken station, attempting to ignore him. "You still defend him,
when he couldn't care less about you or Lilly. You two were in his
way and you know it."

"Oh
enough!" Harry yelled in his direction. "I don't know, or
care about this minister uncle guy, nor what he may or may not have
done to Seventh Janeway." Morgan pulled another face.
"Either of them. Dave's right, you're stalling. You don't want
to tell us what happened with you and Lilly."

Morgan
sighed very impatiently, "wait, is that how this started? I
thought Craig was the wannabe novelist around here."

Scot
laughed a little nervously. "I told you. If I got straight to
the point, you wouldn't get it. Especially if Dave here has been
telling his version of the story."

"You
mean the truth?" Dave muttered.

"Sure,
in an avoidy sorta way," Scot smirked in his direction.
"Maybe you guys can tell me what you know, and I'll go from there."

Jessie
got back on with her work, while Morgan looked around for her own.
Tani merely shrugged and avoided looking in his direction. All that
was left appeared to be Harry. With a heavy groan first, he quickly
whispered a few sentences near his ear. Afterwards Scot waited as if
there was more, but there wasn't.

"Okay
then," he said eventually after some silence. "We followed
Voyager into whatever dimension they fled to. Lilly thought they'd
manipulate other realities of us, and wanted to stop them by any
means necessary. That's when we met... him."

Tani
perked up, "oh the evil James, is he hotter or not?"

A
bemused Scot looked around the bridge for help, in the end he
settled on Dave facepalming into a console. He thought it was best to
ignore her again and continue. "The Boss, he's brilliant. A
genius..." Jessie snorted into laughter, Harry struggled as
well. "We fought against Voyager for hours until we were forced
to retreat. Unable to return home, we set a course for this nebula.
At the time we didn't know its effects, so we were worried Voyager
would follow. Lilly knew they would come for her anyway." Dave
glanced across, frowning. Scot didn't notice, he was too busy staring
down at the floor. "I tried to stop her, but she had Emma with
her." Harry nodded knowingly. "And the rest you know."

"I
think you're missing one tiny, not important bit," Dave said firmly.

Scot
flinched. "Yeah I was getting to that. I'm just..."

"You
couldn't think of a way to make you seem less douchey and
stalkery?" Dave said.

Jessie
glanced back up and narrowed her eyes, more curious than anything
else, glancing between the two.

Scot
sighed. "Fine, fine!" he complained. "I kissed her.
She got mad and left. I never saw her again."

Jessie
and Tani side eyed each other, Tani accusingly so, Jessie with a
straight face. Dave shook his head. "Was that before or after
the civil war?" Tani asked. Jessie pointed another stare at her,
this one was of disgust.

"After.
Lilly insisted it was her responsibility to distract them while we
escaped, claiming this Boss would need her for his plan," Scot
said frantically. He noticed the many looks of disapproval pointed at
him. It riled him up a tad. "Look, I know it was bad timing now,
but then it seemed right."

Tani
rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, since she was your best friend
forever, she had to fancy you," she said. Jessie fumed in her
direction. Tani smiled, catching that in the corner of her eye.
"Tut, such ego and entitlement."

"Look,
no..." Scot protested.

Jessie's
scoff interrupted him, "no, I'm sure he did the much better
jumping on her when she's rejected him multiple times, and forcing a
tongue down her throat. So romantic."

Tani
chewed the inside of her mouth to hold her back. Scot glanced
between the two, then walked over to Harry. He shook his head frantically.

"You
know, that's how it's done. Otherwise nobody would get together.
Everyone would be politely asking may I have a smooch, it'd be
boring," Tani said.

Jessie
deeply sighed. "Of course, you're right. How awful would that
be," she said, clearly sarcastic. "At least James would get
through the day without being molested. Me too. The horror."

Scot
looked relieved, probably because that was over and so was his
flashbacks. "So yup, I'll get back to those weapons and..."
He walked back over to Tactical, he was a little put off by the red
faced, frowning Jessie still there. "Um, I can finish this solo,
if you..."

"Did
you tell her anything, she have any clue what you were going to
do?" Jessie quietly asked.

"Well,"
Scot hesitated, unsure how to answer. "I didn't jump on her, if
that's what you're thinking." Jessie glanced away, briefly
grinding her teeth. "We've been friends a very long time. I've
always liked her and wanted more, but..." he trailed off,
thinking he wasn't doing himself any favours with that train. "I
misread her, and when she said no, I backed off."

"Sure,
you say that now," Jessie sniped as she walked around him and away.

"Hey,"
Scot was offended, he swirled around to follow a little ways behind
her, "you don't know, you weren't there. I'm not the creep
Dave's painting me as, but I admit I made a mistake which has
probably ruined my friendship with her." Jessie stopped, wincing
with her back still to him. "A mistake, putting it mildly,"
he muttered, "the biggest one I ever made. I never got to
apologise. Don't judge me when you don't know."

Jessie
sighed despondently, "maybe I do," she whispered to
herself. She moved across to Harry, he was meanwhile wondering what
she said. "I think I'll help Lilly in Engineering."

"Yeah
sure, wherever," Harry stuttered, watching her walk away.

Seventh
Voyager:Phoebe
sat in the Ready Room, back facing the main door, glaring at a PADD
in her hands.

"I
feel it again. The pull to my real self, it's the cost of my free
will," she grumbled. "It sickens me. Show me again the true
spirit of the Janeways, so I don't end up like you..." she
clawed at the picture of Kathryn smiling straight ahead, "big
sister. You mock me?"

Chakotay
walked straight in, startling her into throwing it over her shoulder
into the desk, smashing all of the tea cups she had there. He laughed
at the resulting mess. "Oh that wasn't cups of tea by any chance
was it?"

Phoebe
span her chair around, already armed with the Death Glare. "What
do you want?" she spat.

Chakotay
reached for the PADD to have a peek. The picture softened his
features for a moment. "Oh what a loaded question."

"Pathetic,"
Phoebe hissed, getting up. She snatched the picture from him.
"What did you and her create, nothing useful, a weakling. What
did we create..."

"Nothing,"
Chakotay replied with some offense. Phoebe growled before walking
off to the sofa. "Alex, Damien, he's your mess to clean up.
Don't think I'll fall for it again."

"No,"
Chakotay sniggered, "last I heard he'd ordered the cloning
machine to be dug out of the closet."

"Ohno,
not again. Neelix is still serving the leftovers from the last
time," Phoebe shuddered. "Do we have any left anyway?"

Chakotay
made a little affirmative hmmm sound. "One."

Sickbay:Damien
waited impatiently in the lab, waiting for the replicator looking
machine to make a beeping sound. Instead of it being permanently
open, it had a microwave like door he had to open. The contents
inside made him giggle like a child.

"Are
you sure? One hour ago somebody brought me what looked like a
joystick," Phoebe said.

"Somebody's
already glued it to his station," Chakotay said. "Yes
we're sure. It's what Taylor and that Liger girl were working on. It
also matched the description of twinkly lights and if kicked could
radiate you."

"I'm
not going anywhere without giving my sister a proper goodbye,"
Phoebe snickered. She was put off by Tom making engine sounds while
roughly pushing a gearbox in circles. "And maybe a backup helmsman."

Chakotay
shrugged and went to take his so called station; his seat.

"Tom,
overcompensate later. Set a course for Voyager," Phoebe
ordered. Tom was about to do so, he'd barely turned his chair around
when she barked, "not through the nebula this time. Around!"
To make things worse she snatched his new toy away.

"Spoil
sport," he pouted.

Fifth
Voyager:"Here
they come," Craig said from opps.

Kathryn
was still in the middle of a sip of coffee, so Chakotay thoughtfully
covered for her. "It's time to break a mirror. Red Alert, battle stations."

Kathryn
glared at him but it only made him laugh. "You call that a pun
or a witty line? You embarrass us all!"

"Setting
a rendezvous course," Tom said while the two bickered.

Seventh
Voyager:Damien
cackled with evil glee on his way back through the office. His
prisoners were unaware he was no longer alone since his followers
were much shorter than the biobeds.

"Ah,
welcome back to part two of the Torture Files. Our still the same
guests; the devilly angelic ball breaker, and the psychotic stabber
of many," Damien sneered.

"Hey,
there was no proof, it's not true!" Emma stuttered.

Her
outburst put Damien off for a few seconds. "I was referring to
both of you."

"You're
the ball breaker," James said matter of factly, "I should know."

"Oh,"
Emma laughed, a little relieved. It didn't last, "I need to get
myself a knife."

James
rolled his eyes, "get your own fun."

"Ahem!"
Damien angrily barked at them. "The pain I've put you through
is but mere tickles compared to what I have in store for you
next." Emma giggled, once again putting him off briefly.
"You will be slowly devoured, just like I was by creatures so
terrifying you'll wish for the sweet relief of death. Only I won't
give it to you. Not yet."

He
turned and looked down to address what had followed him in. To Emma
and James it looked like he was talking to himself.

"Okay,
split up and go get them. Just leave them alive," he cackled.
Nothing happened. He looked around nervously and gritted his teeth.
"Don't you start with that now. We'll talk about it later."

James
managed to sit up only slightly to see what he was talking to. He
groaned and dropped back down to Emma's confusion. "Suddenly it
all makes sense," he said.

"Yes,
go get them!" Damien shouted gleefully. Still nothing happened,
at least not immediately. Emma was joined on the biobed by a little
fluffy creature with big ears. "Yes, yes, don't go for the
throat just yet. Maybe start somewhere small and..." The
creature started to lick her hand. "No, no!"

Movement
to the right of James caught his eye. He looked over to see two
rabbits wander next to him, only to curl up and go to sleep in the
bed's shade.

"That's
it. Family meeting," Damien snapped, stomping off into the
office. Despite his lack of success, a lot of the rabbits did follow him.

Emma
batted the rabbit with her away, it merely hopped off onto the tray.
"What's the matter with that guy?"

James
was about to answer when Damien started shouting again, "I
don't care, you've embarrassed me in front of my mortal enemies! You
don't take that tone with me... No, Fuffle get off, Cuddles can do so
much better than you."

Emma
and James couldn't help but laugh, and it was nowhere near over.
"Who pooped in my corn flakes?" Damien cried.

"I
was trying to think of a plan to get outta here, but this is
fun," Emma sniggered.

The
ship trembled a couple of times, prompting the red alert.
"That'll do," James said as he lifted his arms out of the
restraints as if they weren't there.

"Hey,
why didn't you do that before?" Emma asked.

James
got up to pry the restraints of her next. "I did," he said.

"Yeah
right," Emma smirked. Her first thing to do when she was free
was raid the equipment tray. "Hehe, this'll be good payback."

Damien
pretended to laugh. "Learning from the best I see." Emma
pulled a disgusted face. James only frowned. "One anything and
you're both dead. I've had my fun."

Another
hit to the ship shook him and them off balance. Damien hit the
ground, losing the phaser from his grasp. Emma also lost a few of her
tools and hypos.

"Aaaw,"
she moaned, hurrying to grab the ones in arms reach.

James
rushed over as Damien scrambled on his hands and knees to get his
phaser back. James stamped on the arm reaching for it. "Don't
try it."

"You..."
Damien spat through the pain, "I'll get you yet."

Emma
ran over with what looked a deadlier pizza cutter and a hypo. She
was a little too late, James punched Damien to the ground and
unconscious as soon as she got there.

"Aaaw,
you don't let me have any fun," Emma whined.

"Sure
I do," James said in protest. Emma glared anyway. "I've
got a shuttle to steal, you make sure he doesn't alert anyone. Okay?"

Emma
giggled, "now you're talking."

Meanwhile
on the bridge, the Seventh crew were having difficulty clinging onto
their stations. Phoebe kept a keen angry eye on the other Voyager on
the screen, her fingers clawing into the armrests.

"What
are you waiting for? Where are those reflecting shields, the
cloak?" she spat.

Harry
sobbed over his newly on fire station. Anyone nearby quickly moved away.

"You
lot, useless to the end," Phoebe snarled as she launched out of
the captain's chair, straight for the helm. Tom braced himself for a
beating, only to be shoved out of his chair and replaced by her.
"That coaxial drive better not be in backwards like that new
torpedo launcher."

Chakotay
and Tuvok exchanged nervous glances.

"Captain,"
the regular Tom said nervously, "their engines are powering up,
and I don't mean the warp drive."

Kathryn
swung around towards Tuvok. "Shields status?"

"Ten
percent, Captain," he replied.

"Ugh,"
Kathryn groaned impatiently. "Keep firing. Follow them."

Tom
laughed but instantly regretted it, "I'm not that good."

"Nobody
said anything of the sort," Chakotay muttered.

Kathryn
smirked, "Tuvok, aim a torpedo in front of their port bow,
detonate it when in range."

"Yes
Captain," Tuvok said.

Seventh
Voyager:Phoebe
saw something fly by her nose, she quickly swerved the ship to one
side to avoid it, taking them back towards the nebula.

"Women
drivers," Tom smugly said to Chakotay. He was too distracted by
the fluctuating nebula ahead of them to care. He also didn't notice
when a tricorder flew into Tom's face, knocking him out.

"Uh,
what's that?" he asked, pointing at the darkening shade of red.

Phoebe
looked up, just in time for the bow of the Z5 to emerge from the
clouds. "Oh for..." she quickly changed course again, the
ship shook multiple times, setting a few stations on fire.

"Shields
are down," Tuvok reported.

Fifth
Voyager:Craig
sighed in relief, "transporter rooms got them."

Kathryn
smiled. "Curiosity killed the copycat."

"What?"
everyone said in unison.

Kathryn's
anger threatened to boil off. "Destroy it, sheesh!"

Seventh
Voyager dodged another torpedo hit, only just. Their new extra warp
drives slapped on half hazardly to the top of the ship powered red.
They were about to move away when a phaser blast flicked one of them
straight off the hull, knocking the ship into a frenzied spin.

Another
torpedo hit this time, right into the belly of the ship. Its hull
started to buckle.

"Craig,
tractor beam on the Delilicious Z5," Kathryn said on route to
her chair.

"Yup,"
was all Craig could say as he tried not to laugh.

Voyager
swerved to the right, taking the limping Z5 with them. Seventh
Voyager broke in on itself, creating a massive shockwave that could
even be seen spreading out on the other side of the nebula where the
F9 was left abandoned and adrift.

It
was soon joined by Voyager and the Z5, they all got barely rocked by
what was left of Seventh's wake.

Captain's
Log... 54 er, line?

"54252.7,"
Chakotay's voice said.

Right,
what he said. Seventh Voyager has finally been dealt with.
Unfortunately they took the coaxial drive and yet another chance of
getting home with it. At the very least we have retrieved the Ligers'
prototype ship, so they're happy for now. The Doctor and some
volunteers are working on reviving its crew. The member they've
labelled as a traitor's pod is empty, so we've assumed the best, or
is it worst?

In
other news, the Deliquescent fleet have reported they won't be
joining us for some time. Even with the death of their so called
leader, the Sixes remain an active thorn in the Ligers' side. Despite
that, Lilly insists that the Z5 and the F9, which is actually red and
blue, can you believe it? I would insist it was just red as well,
uck! Ahem, that they stay with us, probably until they're both
repaired. Ungrateful snot.

Jessie
entered the Mess Hall to head straight for the replicator and out
again. Only she was stopped halfway when she spotted Scot and Lilly
arguing at a nearby table next to the window. A couple more tables
away sat James on his own, barely touching his food. She could hear
what they were saying, so she assumed he could as well.

"Scot,
I said you can go," Lilly snapped.

"No,
I think we should work this out," Scot pleaded.

"There's
nothing to work out, this isn't the time," Lilly said.

"Look,
I don't know how many times I have to apologise to you. What do I
have to do to get my best friend back?" Scot asked.

"Nothing,
you embarrassed me in front of everyone. I can't accept any
apologies," Lilly replied. "We are no longer friends. I
know what you want now, you creep."

Scot's
voice broke, "but... that's not true. I don't care how, I just
want you in my life."

Lilly
scoffed, "oh, so being my friend is enough for you now? Lucky
me. Get lost," she spat. She stomped off, leaving him looking
like Neelix reading a recipe book.

Jessie
carried her tray over towards James' looking reluctant. Since she
was taking her sweet time about it, Scot noticed her and approached.

"Why,
she won't listen to me. You're a girl, what would you want me to
do?" Scot said.

Jessie
repressed a slap or two, only by thinking she wasn't any better.
"Look, she doesn't owe you a sodding thing," she tried to
say gently but it came out as a snap. "She was your friend, she
trusted you. You're making it worse, reminding her of it everytime
you pester her."

"But,"
Scot protested.

Jessie
wasn't finished, he could tell by her narrowing eyes. "Leave
her alone. It's up to her whether or not you can be friends again.
Grow a pair and cry in the bed you made."

"Wow,"
Scot tried to say cheekily, but it came out flat. "Okay,
thanks." He wandered off while he was still in one piece.

"Yeah,"
Jessie sighed, opting to sit at a different table on her own.

James
noticed her in the corner of his eye. He picked up his nearly full
plate to go and join her. "Sorry, can I join you?"

James
sat down with a relieved smile. "I've been thinking about what
you said. About Tani, I mean."

"Oh?"
Jessie said with a cringe.

"It
didn't feel right comparing, in anyway. What Tani did, what Simon
did. I didn't want to think it was the same or I'm playing down what
you went through. It couldn't be worse, that's insulting and then I
feel like an asshole for thinking that. And it if were not as bad,
I feel guilty for making a fuss over it," James tried to
explain. He pulled a few unsure faces once he was done, "I dunno
if that makes sense."

Jessie
weakly smiled and nodded, "a bit. It's easier to deflect,
huh?" James nodded as well, still looking worried. "It's
also typical of you. You didn't have to worry about me at all. You shouldn't."

"You're
probably right," James mumbled while his shoulders tensed.
"That's patronising too. I can't win," he laughed in spite
of himself.

"Only
in your head, you're too hard on yourself," Jessie said.
Looking down at the table, she firmly bit her lip. "Is that why
you keep taking the blame after what I did?"

James
instantly looked uncomfortable. "What you did?"

Jessie
raised an eyebrow and stared at him firmly. "I can say all I
want about Tani but I'd be a hypocrite. You know, I know I forced you
into that kiss. It wasn't right, and it wasn't what friends do,
especially after you helped me from him."

"Jess,"
James struggled to think of a response. He reached out to place a
gentle hand on hers. "I don't see that as the same thing, at all."

Jessie
laughed bitterly, "no, of course you don't. It is though."

"How?"
James said, eyeing the table, "I'm sure I was about to do the
same thing."

"What?"
Jessie stuttered, eyes widening.

James
shook his head. "Yeah, that's how I remember it. I'm no better
than him or Tani either. I'm weak, and I don't deserve
anything from you. At least anything but a punch or two anyway."

Jessie
genuinely laughed, then shook her head. "What a pair," she
muttered. "Call it even?" she joked, holding out a
different hand to shake.

"I
thought we already had," James pretended to sound confused.

"Oh
I don't know, I've got some near death experiences to have before
we're even," Jessie sniggered. James didn't take it too
seriously and laughed with her.

Unknown
to either of them Andrew had walked into the Mess Hall looking for
her. When he clasped eyes on the two friends laughing and joking, his
eyes hardened.